Anthropic and Perplexity Race to Automate Finance With AI Tools, Shake up Financial Stocks

The race to automate financial services through artificial intelligence is picking up speed. Two AI companies have announced new products for the financial sector in quick succession: Anthropic, the maker of the AI model Claude, unveiled ten specialized agents for tasks in banking, insurance, and asset management. Shortly afterward, Perplexity also announced its own offering for finance professionals with “Computer for Professional Finance.”

Anthropic’s Push: Ten Agents for Everyday Finance

Anthropic has introduced a range of AI agents designed to take over time-consuming routine work in the financial sector. The tools are aimed at professionals in banks, insurance companies, asset management firms, and financial technology companies. Among other things, they are intended to create pitchbooks for client meetings, analyze financial data, and escalate compliance cases for review.

The agents are organized into two categories: tools for research and client services, and tools for financial operations and internal processes. They can be deployed either as plugins within Anthropic’s work environments Claude Cowork and Claude Code, or operated as so-called Managed Agents on the Claude platform, where they can also work fully autonomously over extended periods of time.

The New Agents at a Glance

Research and Client Services:

• Pitch Builder: Creates target client lists, conducts comparable analyses, and drafts pitchbooks
• Meeting Preparer: Prepares briefings on clients and counterparties ahead of meetings
• Earnings Reviewer: Reads transcripts and filings, updates models, and flags relevant changes
• Model Builder: Creates and maintains financial models from filings, data feeds, and analyst inputs
• Market Researcher: Tracks sector and issuer developments and summarizes news and broker research

Financial Operations and Internal Processes:

• Valuation Reviewer: Reviews valuations against comparable values and methodology
• General Ledger Reconciler: Reconciles general ledger accounts and performs net asset value calculations
• Month-End Closer: Executes the month-end closing checklist and generates closing reports
• Statement Auditor: Reviews financial statements for consistency and audit readiness
• KYC Screener: Creates entity files and prepares escalations for compliance review

Integration into Microsoft Applications and Partner Network

In addition to the agents, Anthropic has also expanded the integration of Claude into Microsoft applications. Via add-ins, Claude can now work directly in Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and soon Outlook as well. Context is intended to be transferred automatically between applications, so that an analysis begun in Excel can be carried over into a PowerPoint presentation without re-entering any inputs.

At the same time, Anthropic is expanding its partner network in the financial sector. New data connections have been established with, among others, Dun and Bradstreet, Fiscal AI, Financial Modeling Prep, Guidepoint, IBISWorld, SS&C IntraLinks, Third Bridge, and Verisk. Moody’s has also published its own MCP app, which provides access to credit ratings and data on more than 600 million companies.

Strategic Background: Revenue Ahead of the IPO

The push into the financial sector is part of a broader strategy. Anthropic is increasingly competing with rival OpenAI to establish its technology across as many industries as possible. Both companies are preparing for an IPO and are in search of stable revenue streams. Anthropic has stated that it now has more than 300,000 enterprise customers.

The company’s ambitions are also reflected in its valuation: according to media reports, Anthropic is exploring a new funding round that could value the company at more than $900 billion. Anthropic has also announced a joint venture with Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, and Goldman Sachs to bring its software to more companies.

“Our ability to commercialize this technology is not being held back by the capability of the models, but by the speed at which they spread throughout the world,” said Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.

The announcement had an immediate impact on the stock market. Shares of FactSet Research Systems fell by as much as 8.1 percent, Morningstar lost more than 3 percent, and S&P Global as well as Moody’s also came under selling pressure. The markets apparently interpreted the new agents as direct competition to established providers of financial data and analysis tools.

Perplexity Follows Suit: “Computer for Professional Finance”

Perplexity, known as an AI-powered search engine, is also pushing into the financial sector. The company has announced “Computer for Professional Finance,” a product likewise aimed at financial analysts, among others. Perplexity takes a different approach from Anthropic: users can bring their own licenses for data providers such as Morningstar, Pitchbook, Daloopa, and Carbon Arc.

The offering includes 35 predefined workflows intended to map the typical daily tasks of an analyst. This positions Perplexity as a flexible assistant that bundles users’ existing data subscriptions and embeds them in automated processes, rather than building a closed ecosystem with its own data partners.

Two Approaches, One Goal

Despite different strategies, both companies are pursuing the same goal: opening up the financial sector as a lucrative market for AI automation. Anthropic relies on a broad partner network, deep integration into existing office software, and autonomous agents for complex, multi-hour tasks. Perplexity, by contrast, emphasizes flexibility through users’ own data licensing and a workflow-oriented approach.

For established providers of financial data and analysis tools, the entry of these AI companies into the market could exert long-term pressure on business models that have until now been based on exclusive access to structured financial data. The reaction of the stock markets to Anthropic’s announcement suggests that investors are already pricing in this risk.